Do you want to make your jokes more funny?  Do you find that people don’t laugh at your jokes despite the fact that you find them uproariously funny?  Part of the problem might be that people don’t understand your jokes, and their lack of laughter is simply due to a lack of comprehension.  In order to make sure that people always understand your jokes, you must explain in detail why your joke is funny immediately after telling it.  Here are some examples of how you can do this with different types of jokes.

Puns

Puns rely on words or sayings having double meanings, and the ability of your audience to recognize this double meaning.  In case your audience might not recognize this double meaning, it is imperative that you immediately explain this double meaning so that they will understand the joke.  Here are some examples.

“How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?  Ten tickles.”

This joke is funny because “ten tickles” sounds like the word “tentacles,” which octopuses have.  To make sure that your audience understands the reference, the joke should be changed to this:

How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?  Ten tickles, because octopuses have lots of tentacles and “ten tickles” sounds like the word “tentacles.”

“Calculus and alcohol don’t mix.  Don’t drink and derive.”

For your audience to understand this joke, they must know that deriving is a calculus concept, and that “drinking and deriving” is a play on the phrase “drinking and driving.”  You must make both of these things clear to them, like so:

Calculus and alcohol don’t mix.  Don’t drink and derive, because deriving is something you do in calculus and it sounds like the word “driving” and drinking and driving is bad.

Anti-Jokes

Anti-Jokes are funny because their punchlines are often nonsensical and unexpected.  When telling an anti-joke, you must make sure that your audience understands that your punchline does not make sense.  That way, they will better understand the humor of the joke and enjoy the joke more.

“Two men walk into a bar.  The third one ducks.”

This joke is referring to two men walking into a metal bar.  The third man, not wanting to get hit by the bar, ducks. In order for your audience to enjoy this joke, they must understand that 1) the bar is a metal bar, not a restaurant where people consume alcohol, and 2) that walking into a bar would hurt, so the third man decided to duck because he did not want to get hit by the bar because doing so would cause him pain.  The joke should be rephrased like so:

Two men walk into a bar.  The third one ducks because the bar is actually a metal bar and he does not want to get hit by the bar because that would be painful.

“Why did the plane crash?  Because the pilot was a loaf of bread.”

In order for your audience to understand this joke, they must understand that bread is an inanimate object and therefore unable to fly a plane.  If a loaf of bread were to become a pilot, it would be unable to pull levers, push buttons, or make decisions, so it would probably crash the plane.  You must make sure that your audience understands that a loaf of bread is not an effective pilot. The joke should be changed to this:

Why did the plane crash?  Because the pilot was a loaf of bread, and bread is an inanimate object incapable of successfully piloting an aircraft, meaning that any aircraft flown by a loaf of bread would almost certainly crash.

Insults

Insults are funny because they use hyperbole, allusions, absurdity, or irony to mock something or someone.  When you tell an insult, you must make sure that your audience is aware of how specifically your insult is mocking the thing you intend to mock.  Here are some examples.

“Yo mamma is so dumb, she got locked in a mattress factory and slept on the floor.”

In this insult, you are attempting to mock your audience by implying that their mother is unintelligent.  In order for the audience to understand this insult, they must realize that in a mattress factory there will be many mattresses, and mattresses are more comfortable to sleep on than the floor.  Therefore, if someone with good logical reasoning was locked in a mattress factory, they would sleep on a mattress because that would be more comfortable. However, since the audience’s mother did not decide to sleep on a mattress, they have lower logical reasoning skills and are therefore less intelligent.  The joke should be changed to this:

Yo mamma is so dumb, she got locked in a mattress factory and slept on the floor, even though anyone with higher intelligence and logical reasoning would have decided to sleep on a mattress because there would be lots of mattresses and sleeping on a mattress is more comfortable than sleeping on the floor.

“Why can’t a blonde dial 911?  They can’t find the eleven.”

This joke mocks the intelligence of blonde people by claiming that they do not understand how to dial properly on a cell phone.  There is no “11” key on the phone, so most people with good problem-solving skills will deduce that the proper sequence when dialing 911 is to press the “9” once and then the “1” twice.  Someone unable to make this deduction would have fewer problem-solving skills and therefore have lower intelligence. Since the blonde was unable to make this deduction, they have lower intelligence.  This is how the joke should be told:

Why can’t a blonde dial 911?  They can’t find the eleven, but everyone knows that you actually have to press the “1” twice because there is no eleven key on a phone.

Using these tips will ensure that everyone will always love your jokes.  By explaining exactly why your joke is funny immediately after telling it, you will be more popular and better-liked, because everybody will think that you are really funny because they will always understand your jokes.  Who knows where your newfound comedic talent will take you? You could become the next Pete Davidson, Amy Schumer, Rosie O’Donnell, or Jay Leno, because those are some of the most universally adored comedians over the past 50 years and it would be great to be as funny and well-loved as them.  Good luck, and happy joking!